Two thirds of Bulgaria's teachers resumed their strike on Tuesday and the rest went back to work, while the unions' demands for new talks were shut down by the government, which asked for more time to think over its next offer.

The cabinet will discuss the issue at its next meeting on Wednesday and will resume negotiations only after it has discussed all the possible solutions to the wage dispute that has brought the academic year to a grounding halt.

Education minister Daniel Valchev declined to meet with the union leaders on Tuesday, saying the cabinet was still open to talks, but first needed to re-assess its own position.

He also admonished the trade unions for not putting in enough effort to find a compromise solution to the crisis.

The unions and the cabinet agreed last week to raise the salaries of all employees in the education by BGN 80 starting November 1, which would raise the average teacher's wage by 22,5% to BGN 524, and for non-teaching staff to BGN 283.

The deal also included a 24% wage hike for both teaching and non-teaching staff on July 1, 2008, for a cumulative 48%, and the allocation of 4,22% of the gross domestic product (GDP) to education in next year's budget.

But after they were given the weekend to mull over the proposal, the teachers rejected it on Monday, refusing to budge from their demands - a cumulative 78% wage hike by July, as well as 5% of GDP allocated for education next year.

Although a full third of the country's teaching staffs returned to work on Tuesday, according to the strike committee's data, the rest remain resolute in demanding the cabinet improves its offer.

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